One Off

If I owned Durham, and I owned hell, I’d rent out Durham and I’d live in hell.

Born in Denton Burn, Ric Renton had a troubled upbringing that led to him spending his young adulthood in prison. During a stint in solitary confinement, he declined a proffered Bible and on a whim, chanced it and asked for a dictionary instead. This choice afforded him an ability with language that would shape his life far beyond his station through writing. This is his story.

Three young men Knox, Brown, and Shepherd pass their time in a prison with the highest suicide rate in the country. Energised by their friendship but with the walls around them getting smaller, haunted by the repeated pronouncements of another life lost, the arrival of a nightwatchman, Jock, offers Shepherd an unexpected way through the darkness.

One Off is rich with emotion but sizzling with high energy and the blackest humour.

This edition was published to coincide with the world premiere at Live Theatre in Newcastle, in November 2022.